UT prof: Texas twang is on the wane

7:28 pm, Friday, December 9, 2016

Photo: AP Photo/Mike Stone

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Country music entertainer George Strait performs at Cowboys Stadium, the first event held in the $1.1 billion stadium that opened in 2009 in Arlington. You can count on Strait, a native of Poteet, to deliver the twang in his songs.

Country music entertainer George Strait performs at Cowboys Stadium, the first event held in the $1.1 billion stadium that opened in 2009 in Arlington. You can count on Strait, a native of Poteet, to deliver

There's sumptin' show 'nuff goin' on in the Big'o state of Texas, and ev'thang is changin' not just in the Houston area but ov'air, too.

Your ears aren't deceiving you.

Talking Texan - that trademark twang and drawl that can be found from the shores of Galveston to the El Paso border - is on the wane, according to a professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin.

"People are becoming more bi-dialectical," meaning they are able to easily speak in two different accents, said Lars Hinrichs,English language and linguistics professor at UT-Austin. "They're more competent at communicating with everybody else in the country. In Austin, you would have heard it (Texas twang) on campus and everywhere else." Now, it's mostly heard inside homes and honkey tonk bars like Austin's Broken Spoke, he said.

If anybody should know, it's Hinrichs, who heads heads UT-Austin's Texas English Project that gauges how much Texas accents and dialects have changed over the years.

Hinrichs said that urbanization, pop culture and an influx of newcomers to the state have diluted the state's distinctive twang.

In the 1980s, about 80 percent of Texans interviewed by UT Austin researchers had traditional Texas accents, Hinrichs said. Today, that number has declined to roughly a third.

But then again, it depends on where you go, he said.

"These developments start in urban areas, and I do think that the twang is alive and well in the rural areas," he said. "You can hear if someone's from East Texas or West Texas or the southern borders."

"A lot of it is related to education," she said. "The higher the education level, the more conscious people are of situations where they might use it (Texas dialect). A lot of it is about class as well."

In general, people tend to socialize with others who share their local dialect, she said.

"Language is always changing," Price said. "On the other hand, linguistic diversity is definitely something to be appreciated."

But don't squat on your spurs. Texas Twang is here to stay.

"It'll never go away," Hinrichs said. "It's just that the stark differences - the regional dialect and national general accent - will be less big."

In other words, lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier 'n puttin' it back in.

Latest from the Chron.com Homepage

Click below for the top news from around the Houston area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.